Lady Jackets Lose OT Thriller (2/25/06)
Box Score

SILVER CITY, NM -  It was a bittersweet night Saturday for the Lady Jackets as they dropped their second straight game to Western New Mexico and also learned they will share the Heartland Conference title with St. Edward’s.  The Yellowjackets were downed in overtime play 87-83.  The Mustangs finished their season and senior night with a bang ending their tenure in the Heartland Conference 6-20 on the season and 3-9 in the conference.  Saturday’s loss drops the Lady Jackets to 18-8 overall.  Next year the Mustangs will move to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after making the jump with the Yellowjackets this year from the PacWest to the Heartland.

Earlier in the evening St. Edward’s was playing their final conference game of the season at St. Mary’s.  The 58-56 win by St. Mary’s forced a tie between the Yellowjackets and St. Edward’s.  The Lady Jackets retained the No. 1 seed because they won out over St. Mary’s earlier in the season with St. Edward’s splitting wins giving the Hilltoppers the No. 2 seed.  St. Mary’s has clinched the No. 3 spot and Oklahoma Panhandle is No. 4.

“I have a renewed respect for Western New Mexico University,” said Lady Jacket head coach Kevin Woodin.  “We didn’t shoot well tonight but we played a solid game against a much-improved Mustangs team.  It would have been nice to come out on top but they (Mustangs) played good basketball.”

The game was close throughout and it looked as though the Lady Jackets may walk away with the “W” but a late surge by the Mustangs tied the game with 47 seconds to play.  Following a trip to the charity stripe by the Mustangs, the Yellowjackets had two seconds left in regulation to throw the ball the distance of the court and make a basket.  On the inbound to the far side, a Mustang guard intercepted the ball and launched it from near half court.  The ball nearly missed, sending the teams into extra minutes.  The Mustangs pulled away out-shooting the Jackets 13 to 9 in overtime.

For the second night in a row, Michelle Lieber (Jr., Gillette, WY) led the Jackets in scoring with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the line.  Lieber had a double-double grabbing 10 rebounds.  Alira Carpenter (Fr., Lewistown, MT) played like a veteran posting 19 points shooting 7-of-19 from the field, and 3-of-7 from 3-point range.  Carpenter grabbed a career-high seven boards.  Lisa Jellum (Sr., Gillette, WY) was even across the board with six points, six rebounds and six assists.  As a team the Lady Jackets were 27-of-69 from the field, 9-of-31 from behind the arc and 20-of-24 from the charity stripe.

The Mustangs Natalie Lara was on fire from the perimeter knocking down six 3-pointers.  Lara shot 8-of-12 from the field for 22 points.  Four other Mustangs scored in double figures.  Nicole Ruegsegger netted 19 points with teammates Crystal Smith, Tannesia Manley, and Sarah Bennetts each adding 14, 12 and 11 points respectively.

“The coaching staff at Western New Mexico has resurrected the Mustang program,” added Woodin.  “We didn’t give the game to the Mustangs, they won it.”

The Yellowjackets return to Alterowitz Gymnasium to host Oklahoma Panhandle in the first game of the Heartland Conference playoffs.  The game is scheduled for Wednesday, March 1.  Tip off is 5:30 p.m.  To purchase your tickets in advance call the Yellowjacket Athletics department at 657-2369.  Should the Yellowjackets be crowned Heartland Conference champions they will earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.